Recent leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden show that the intelligence agency authorized the surveillance of torrent sites including The Pirate Bay.

Tracking ‘foreign malicious actors’

The leaked documents were published on “The Intercept” by Glenn Greenwald, revealing internal discussions of what they can and cannot monitor under different circumstances.

The conversation cited The Pirate Bay as an example of a “foreign malicious actor” the agency could monitor, as the website has servers overseas, even though there are great chances US citizens access the site.

The case of proxies

Many use proxies to hide their online activities, especially in countries that have file sharing restrictions like the United Kingdom. The NSA, however, can still track individuals despite several layers of proxy cloaks.

The documents suggest that the intelligence agency could easily back-trace the post from the said site and the series of proxies that it went through.

Snowden’s leaks have caused a global uproar, with some of the major websites even organizing live and online protests against government surveillance.